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Gambling and Gaming Addictions in Women

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Textbook of Addiction Treatment

Abstract

This chapter provides a summary of contemporary research perspectives on both gambling and gaming disorders in women.

A discussion of the prevalence of gambling in women is given, as is an overview of gender-specific differences in the kinds of gambling that individuals engage in. A description of the nature of disordered gambling in women is then provided, incorporating a summary of gender differences in the progression of gambling disorder. Comorbidities of gambling disorder in women are described, with a particular focus on barriers to treatment among women. Treatment methods are summarised, incorporating a description of initial advances in pharmacotherapy.

The research literature on gaming disorder among women is then treated. Gender differences in both prevalence of gaming and the prevalence of disordered gaming are described. An overview is provided for a nascent literature investigating potential neurobiological explanations for gender differences in gaming disorder. Limitations of the literature are discussed throughout, with a focus placed on how the literature is hampered by a lack of well-defined screening procedures for determining what constitutes disordered gaming.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The National Problem Gambling Clinic, London, UK

    Joseph Althaus & Henrietta Bowden-Jones

  2. The Barberry National Centre for Mental Health, Birmingham, UK

    Joseph Althaus

  3. University of York, York, UK

    David Zendle

Authors
  1. Joseph Althaus
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  2. David Zendle
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  3. Henrietta Bowden-Jones
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Addiction Department of Psychiatry, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Nady el-Guebaly

  2. Mental Health Department, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Monza e Brianza, Italy

    Giuseppe Carrà

  3. Division of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Department of Psychiatry, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Marc Galanter

  4. Population and Behavioural Science Division (Psychiatry and Addictions), University of St Andrews, St.Andrews, UK

    Alexander M. Baldacchino

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Althaus, J., Zendle, D., Bowden-Jones, H. (2021). Gambling and Gaming Addictions in Women. In: el-Guebaly, N., Carrà, G., Galanter, M., Baldacchino, A.M. (eds) Textbook of Addiction Treatment. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36391-8_66

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36391-8_66

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